Builder board



E. M. WALKER BUILDER BOARD Nov; 8, 1927. 1,648,706

Filed May 5. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet J.

r [n VZTZB Of [76. Z ,QJZABETHMML/ffil? ZZJWWWM Nov. 8, 1927. 1,648,706

E. M. WALKER BUILDER BOARD Filed May 5. 1926 2 Shets-Sheet 2 7 3 '2' K 4o c/ o o o o o o L @Ijjg 0 0 II o o o o o o 0 o o o a o o E /o 4 v o o oo o o o o o o o a I; n 1

K o o o o o o o 0 o o a: o n i 5' l o 0 0 o 0 o o o I I 6 o 7 o M 0 o oo f o o o o o a: j n l fins/en or EL/ZABETHMML/rf/P Patented Nov. 8,1927,

uNiTEn PATENT ofrricn- ELIZABETH M. WALK R, Now BY MARRIAGE ELIZABETH"noenns; or MINNEAPOLIS,

MINNESOTA. i

ZBUILVDEIR nonnn.

Application filed may. 3, 1926. se ial 1100106385.

This invention relates to an educational play device particularlyadapted. for young er persons, wherein a number of builder boards areprovided, having openings therein, the,openings being relatedto theedgesxof all boards, and-the spacing of the openings on all boards beingsuch that the boards may be connected together edge to edge, and inco-planar or angular relation,

1 in innumerable combinations, for jforming various full size orminiature structures, such as tables, chairs, bookcases, closets,

kitchen cabinets, doll houses, etc.

,.An..object is to provide for the building of substantially full sizeWooden- Structures from aplurality of board sections, of dif ferentsizes, said sections adapted to, beconnected. edge in co-planarrelation, such a variety of sizes of boards being had, as will permitplural piece sections or lengths of large size or areato be constructedfrom smaller sizes whereby comparatively large and useful structurescanbeyproduced. I

. The device further provides a plurality of 1 connectors. or tiepieces, having openings therein spaced in correspondence to the spacing.of theadjacent' openings, and to the inward; spacing of the rows. ofopenings from the edge of the boards, so that;tlie

openingsof the connectors .canbe, ;madeto use'tuln'ess, particularlyforchildren of,-all

ages and sizes.

Objects and advantagesivill appear in the description of the drawingsforming part. of this specification andin-saiddrawingsz Figures. 1 and.2.1iespectively. represent sets of narrow and Wide boards, eachxsetcom-. prising three members; 4

Figures 3 and lrespectively represent enlarged detail ot'flat and angledconnectors;

Fi ure 5 represents one of theboltswith a Winged nut;

' el tions- -,I ?-igure di -is, illustrative of. the manner in w icviilur l-ity of small boards .eannhe sec red :Wfifllfil ic -plana lation.31 or elarge fb arcl;

Eignres7 andS respeQtively show a bench and chair constructed 7 fromboard sections Figure :9 is ,a vertical section through la hair, llu ratng th manner of att ching. theisec iq sg. both into-plan r .an angulaThe boards are respectively indicated by' ume al v ,112,43--4,.45,-6--;T.h s.;far it h s I beem oun that. a s set ;Qf':S oards-havingthe,dimensional relations 1 given belowgpro vides -.a more economicalarrangement. Larger sets mayicomprise;multiples OfltllQSGsetsrespectively containing, ,for. example, twelve,eighteen,;thirty-two, and up to; ninety; or. morezboards. 1

., Ea.ch boardis provided Witha series of openings indicated atg7, thespacing between the pWmngs being substantially thesaine forqallboards-so that theboardscan be connected edge 1 to edge either ,inco-planarzor angular relatinabymeans,of irons 1.8, 1.0. respectivelyhaving openings 9, 11 (see Fig: vmes-3 and 4;); If we representthedistance otsthe cen erofe board opening inwardly from the boardzedge. bycthen; he distances Z) between the; openingsll jot the plates orcennes orslllvwill h mwhich. i h s instance is also ithe-linjeardl'StaDQQ bEtWQQD consecutiveopenings' of all boards; :The

d stast .o the 1 pening 9 from h iou e cornenof ch angle-iron 8 isalsoequal to a. IQhus When,- two b0 ards are. strapped; togetheratone-point, byreg'istering the openings. of an i on w th co respondingopenings. of the hoariwith 5 the bolt traversing the registered openings;;,to secur the i structure, .the

boards eanlbe similarly secured at. other points, because other;openings Will; be; opposingly allned in pairs to permit strapping ve v,I i

Although the rectangular form of board is; preferred as being more,simple, and thus more; suitable in the education of younger children, asfor. example, those in the kindergarten yet theinventive idea canbeappl1ed,;to boards havlng any regular :geo-

metric figure, wherein the inward spacing of. the-openings as Wellv asthe spacing betweenconsecutwe openings canbe made-to -.pr.oper1y.correspond .in all boards. The

larger sets as used at present, include ninety boards, one hundred angleirons, fifty fiat connectors, and three hundred bolts with the wingednuts. I Y

In the embodiment illustrated, each rectangular board has adjacent eachof its four sides, spaced inwardly therefrom and panel lel therewith, astraight row of openings 7 between adjacent members of herein beingconsecutively related as the sides of a rectangle." The spacing of therows inwardly from the sides of the boards and linear spacing fromcenter to center of adjacent openings, is the same for all boards,whereby the boards may be arranged in angular or co-planar relation inmany combinations, and connected edge to edge in such co-planar orangular relations, by the use of connector straps or connector anglepieces, and the bolts 13 with their complementary wing nuts.

The dimensional relation of the members of the set is regular, or inother words, the pieces' have a fixed dimensional ratio to one another,so that by selecting and securing together in co-planar relation theproper combinations of smaller pieces, 'a large plural piece board, of asize corresponding to one of the large single piece'boards, can beproduced, (see Figure 6). Thus the smaller pieces'can be utilized forthe production of a desired larger single fiat piece (see Figure 6), andlikewise larger built-up plural piece boards can be produced andattached in angular relation to large single piece boards.

The smallest board,-1 of the set herein illustrated, has a dimension of5x 10", the ratio of the length of the sides being as one to two, andthis board has eight openings therein equally spaced apart from centerto center and each of the four rows spaced inwardly the same distancefrom a corresponding edge. The next larger board 2 is 5 x 20", a ratioof one to four, and has sixteen openings therein. The next larger board3 is 5x 30", a'ratio of one to six, and has twenty-four openings In thisseries of three boards, the width of all boards is the same, with thelengths consecutively increased, and the consecutively larger boards arerespectively two and three times the length of the smallest board.

In the second series of three boards, the size of the first board 4, is10 x 10", a ratio of one to one, and has twelve openings. The secondboard 5 is 10 x 20, a ratio of one to two and has twenty openings, thesize of the third board 6 is 10 x 30", a ratio of one to three, and hastwenty-eight openings. In this series, also, the width of all boards isthe same but the length is increased, and the consecutively largerboards are respectively two and three times longer than that of thesmaller.

The ratio of the widths of the series are as one to two, or five inchesto ten inches. In both series, the increase of the number of openings ofconsecutive larger members over the preceding, is eight. Moreover, thedifference in number of openings between corresponding members of thetwo series, is four.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device of the class described comprising a plurality of boards eachhaving only four rows of openings, said openings extending through theboard fromoneface side of greatest area to the other end in the samedirection, a row parallel with each side, the spacing betweenconsecutively related openings ofall boards being equal and the rows ofall boards being spaced the same distance inwardly. i

2. A device of the class described com-1 prising a plurality of boardseach having only four rows of openings, said openings extending throughthe board in the same direction, a row parallel with each side, thespacing between consecutively'related openings of all boards being equaland the rows of all boards being spaced the same distance direction, arow parallel with each side,'the

spacing between consecutively related openings of all boards being equaland the rows of all boards being spaced the same distance inwardly theinward spacing of the rows being one-half of that between consecutiveopenings, and metal straps, having two-openings spaced apart twice thedistanceof the inward spacing of the rows, adapted to connect the boardsin coplanar edge to edge relation. H

4. A device of the class described com prising two series of rectangularboards the members of each series having dimensions which are simplemultiples of each other and of the'members of both series, each boardhaving only four rows of openings all extending in the same direction, arow parallel with each side, the space between consecutively relatedopenings of all boards being equal, and the rows of all boards spacedthe same distance inwardly from the edges.-

5. A device of the class described comprising plurality of boardseach'having only four rows of openings, said openings extending throughthe board in the same direction, a row parallel with each side, thespacing between consecutively related openings of all boards being equaland the rows 7 of all boards being spaced the same distance inwardly theinward spacing of the rows being one-half oi that between consecutiveopenings and angle irons each having an opening in each leg, eachopening spaced from the corner a distance equal to the inward spacingof: the rows, said irons adapted to connect the boards in right angularrelation.

6. A device of the class described com prising two series of rectangularboards the members of each series having dimensions which are simplemultiples of each other and of the members of both series, each boardhaving only four rows of openings all extending in the same direction, arow parallel with each side, the space between consecutively relatedopenings of all boards being equal, and the rows of all boards spacedthe same distance inwardly from the edges, the inward spacing of therowsbeing one-half of that between consecutive openings, and the number ofopenings in consecutively larger boards of each member of each of theseries being increased by eight openings.

7. A device of the class described comprising members of each serieshaving dimensions which are simple multiples of each other and of themembers of both series, each board having only four rows of openings allextending in the same direction, a row parallel with each side, thespace between consecutively related openings of all boards being equal,and the rows of all boards spaced the same distance inwardly from theedges, the

inward spacing of the rows being one-half ol'that between consecutiveopenings, and the number of openings in consecutlvely larger boards ofeach member of each of the series being increased by eight openings andconnector plates and angle irons having openings therein adapted toregister with the board openings for attaching the boards edge to edgein coplanar relation, or "for attaching them at rightangles to oneanother.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of April,1926.

ELIZABETH M. WALKER.

